Before King Ernst
August made the colours yellow and white the official
Statecolours, there had not been any official Flag of the State
by law.

until 1837

In the times of both,
the Electorate and Kingdom of Hanover until 1837, mostly a red
flag with the white, wide-jumping horse (Horse of Saxons) over
green ground was displayed.1

The ground
beneath the horse is important, since it was used only during the
independance of Hanover until 1866 and from 1946-1952. During the
times of the 80 years lasting Prussian occupation, the horse was
used without a ground. Exception: the flags displayed on ships.

The colours yellow
and white were found before 1837, too. They were used in military
flags, symbols and uniforms' ornaments as well as in civil flags.

1837-1866

King Ernst August of
Hanover officially introduced yellow&white after the
personell union with Great Britain had come to an end. However,
these Flag was found very variously. Still, there were some
mainly used types:

- a simple yellow-white
flag1

- a yellow&white
flag with a white, wide-jumping horse (on ground!) within a red
shield.1

- just like above,
but with a crone on top of the shield. This one seems to be the
mostly used type.1

Other
varieties had just the horse on yellow&white - without the
shield for example.

After
1851 King Georg V. of Hanover introduced a "State- and
Governmetflag". This one was like the Great Coat of Arms,
but without lion, unicorn, mottos, and crone above the arms (see
"home"). It was used on castles and official buildings
during the King's presence. However, the yellow&white flag
still was valid.2/3

1866-1946

After
Hanover's annexion by the Prussians, there was no flag for the
Prussian Province of Hanover for the first years. In 1873, a
provincial coat of arms was designed. This one did not show the
white horse, but a blue lion, the so-called Lion of Lüneburg.
The reason: Still the guelph-loving Hanoverians carried the white
horse on the traditional flags, and the Prussian government did
not want to let their symbols into their arms. This regulation
lasted until 1881, when the Provincial Government in Hanover-City
voted against this design. Now, a simple wide-jumping white horse
- without ground! - within a red shield was made the province's
coat of arms.3

The
problem with the traditonal coat of arms was the same as the new
province's flag. As yellow&white with a horse was the symbol
of the Guelphs' Empire and still rembered and loved by the
Hanoverians, the Prussian Government in Berlin decided against it.
To make some kind of compromise, they let the province have the
stand-alone yellow&white flag.3

1946-1952

After
the liberation of Germany from the Nazi regime by the Allied
Forces, the British Military Government in northern Germany made
the former Prussian Province of Hanover become an independant
state on August 23rd, 1946. The first Premierminister of the
State of Hanover, Mr Hinrich-Wilhelm Kopf introduced the new flag
of the State of Hanover during the first session the state's
parliament. This flag was designed after the electoral flags of
the 18th century.4

On
November, 1st 1946, the States of Braunschweig (Brunswick),
Hanover, Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe fusioned to nowadays
Germany's Federal State of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). However,
a yellow&white flag with a white horse on a red shield (without
crone) was used until 1952. This one can be seen within lots of
documenary films about the first years of the Federal Republic of
Germany.

1952
to today

As no
part of the new Federal State of Lower Saxony should have had an
advantage with the State's flag, Lower Saxony's parliament made
it a law, that a different horse than the former Hanoverian horse
was used in a red shield on the Republic's flag black-red-gold.
However this law (Law for coat of arms, flags, and seals of the
Federal State of Lower Saxony) also said, that the old flags, i.e.
yellow&white for Hanover, shall be used as well as official
flags of the parts of the Federal States. For example, during
festivals in Uelzen, Celle, and Ebstorf, this flag is still
displayed on the streets and at official buildings. As it is
cheaper, the arms in this flag is often the "normal"
Lower Saxony's horse.